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A tantalising start to the Champions League seminfinals for 2012 with Bayern Munich hosting Real Madrid

By Greg Robertson

Hello and welcome to Allianz Arena where we have Leg One semifinal action between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

Join the 3news.co.nz/sport online team for live video highlights as they occur, game commentary and all the drama of the Champions League 2012. Remember to refresh your browser occasionally and we’ll warn you when we add video with ‘video up’.

NB: Video for this article has been removed in accordance with our right’s usage agreement after a period of time.

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LIVE COMMENTARY… FULLTIME Bayern 2 – 1 Real

Bayern win 2-1! Thanks for coming look forward to the second leg.

89 mins: Gomez scores! last minute - great effort. Lahm down the right delivers a great ball near post and Mario Gomez makes no mistake. Video up.

88 mins: Gomez through again and another appeal for a penalty, it's Ramos with contact but the defenders did well to clear... perhaps Webb got it right again? You decide. Video up.

85 mins: Gomez wins a header and this time it's on target but it's straight at Casillas.

82 mins: HUGE let off for Real Madrid as Pepe gets the ball close to his hand in the box.... Howard Webb waves play on. Video up... thinking that was a good decision. Gonzalo Higuain for Madrid on for Benzema.

79 mins: Sergio Ramos booked for a shocking challenge.... I could go on and on about the challenges but there are players flying in all over the place and collecting the player not the ball combined with plenty of rolling around and play acting. Esteban Granero on and Angel Di Maria makes way for his Real Madrid teammate.

72 mins: Gomez really starting to find some changes as he gets in front of Ramos this time to beat him to the header but he can't control it and it's over the top.

70 mins: Real Madrid making changes with Mesut Ozil the goalscorer coming off and Marcelo making his way onto the pitch. Marcelon has gone to left midfield. Ribery brought down by Alvaro Arbeloa but RIBERY totally dived. He's been play acting plenty.... oh from the free kick Sergio Ramos makes a mistake and Gomez should have buried it from close. Video up.

65 mins: Real Madrid looking like a different team so far in the second half... but at the other end it's Bayern applying some pressure.... first with a free kick and then with a corner but Madrid looks much more settled even though under pressure...

62 mins: A flick finds Gomez through on Casillas but Casillas was too fast off his line and gets to it first.

Bastion Schweinsteiger off for Bayern and Thomas Muller coming on.

58 mins: Robben does really well to get to the byline but Pepe puts out another fire.

Alonso books and Coentrao booked at the same time for Real after two clumsy challenges.

53 mins:Real Madrid GOAL even though it looked like they didn't want to. Ronaldo should have scored first, back, couple of touches and Benzema cuts it back, to Ronaldo, back into the middle and Mesut Ozil touches it away from one yard. Video up.

51 mins: Plenty of poor passing coming from the feet of Real Madrid players - if they don't up their game they'll be losing for the first time in all competitions in 20 games. Ribery with another strike, this time over the top for Bayern. he's finding space, and getting his shots away.

49 mins: Benzema gets away for Real Madrid and if not for a great challenge by Jerome Boateng would have got a strike on goal.

47 mins: Bayern breaking in the second spell and then making a lovely switch to the opposite flank but Real are organised and knock it out.

Players making their way out onto the pitch now...

Well, what Real Madrid will turn up in the second half? they've been anything but industrious. Fair cop to Bayern though, they've not allowed Madrid to play their own game so far.

HALFTIME Bayern Munich 1 -0 Real Madrid. See you after the break.

43 mins: Real Madrid just struggling a bit to make way through a solid Bayern Munchen d3efence... the Sergio Ramos with a clumsy challenge on Mario Gomez right on the edge of the area. Danger danger here right before the break... off the wall and no danger. + 1 minuteadded

40 mins: Benzema does really well to create a chance at one end... suddenly Gomez has space at the other end and Real's Casillas with a great save. The second of the two shots the better. Video up of both efforts.

36 mins: Ramos scoots off down the left, goes back, pass, pass, pass, Ronaldo, loses ball... back with Ramos again, pass, pass, pass... pass.... turn, pass, Ronaldo.... pass, Angel Di Maria with a nice wee jinking run, pass, Ronaldo flicks a poor ball across... Real gets hold of it though, pass, pass, Ronadlo... and Cristiano is brought down. Free kick right out by the touchline and about five yards from the edge of the penalty area, Alonso floats it in and there's pressure on Neuer in the goal but he punches it clear. Two plays later a yellow card for Arjen Robben for a terrible challenge on Fabio Coentrao, coming in with a stomping type action on his foot. Video up of the challenge.

Holger Badstuber gets the first yellow card of the game though it was Luis Gustavo Dias who actually committed the foul - ref booked the wrong man there.

29 mins: Ronaldo with his first real shot in anger, gets the ball on the left hand side of the corner of the penalty area, checks to his right a couple of times and shoots a dipping shot just over the bar. Video up.

27 mins: Wow the wind is right in Bayern's sails... Bastian Schweinsteiger found a soften in the Real Madrid middle and lets fly with a long shot. The ball scooted past the post but Madrid are losing the midfield battle right now. Video up.

25 mins: That goal has changed the complexion of the game... it was all real for a touch and now Bayern are streaming forward in numbers with their tails up and confidence high. Ribery with a great ball into the box but headed away by Pepe.

21 mins: Cristiano Ronaldo over a free kick about 30 yards out - lacked forced, sort of chip - and Neuer watches it fly over the bar.

17 mins: Franck Ribery GOAL! Corner comes in is not cleared, falls to Ribery who smashes it home! Video up.

16 mins: HEATED EXCHANGES! Franck Ribery goes down in the penalty area and there's calls for a penalty.... Sergio Ramos has a little tug of the jersey but there's nothing in that and then Ribery gets pushed and pushed and pushed by the Real Madrid defenders.... fair enough too should have been booked for a dive. Video up.

13 mins: Bayern Munich just searching... probing... trying things down the right and then switching quickly to launch an attack down the left... no way through yet. Fabio Coentrao gets a talking to and the play is stopped for a chat for 30 seconds... come on, on with it... book him or move on.

10 mins: A long ball through is searching for Bayern's Mario Gomez but Casillas comes out of his penalty area and volleys it away.

9 mins: it was early with Bayern but now the Real side is getting into their swing... last four minutes have been camped in the home side's half.

6 mins: Real with the ball at the right end of the park for the first time and Karim Benzema suddenly finds space, has a blast and a GREAT SAVE from Manuel Neuer in the Bayern goal. Video up.

4 mins: Toni Kroos with a free kick just outside the area bends it in dangerously but the Real Madrid defence deals with it.

2 mins: Crowd in full voice - we'll get some highlights up as soon as they happen... looks like Cristiano Ronaldo has found a par of boots that fit after having three pairs stolen prematch. Both teams just pushing the ball about with their early use of possession... settling in, getting first touches, Real Madrid in white but it's Bayern that get the first cross in and keeper Iker Casillas has to deal with it. Video up.

We're underway as Bayern Munich gets play underway...

66,000 fans packed into Allianz Areana... packed house.

Bayern Munchen and Real Madrid teams coming out onto the pitch now... Bayern looking to be the first side ever to play a final in front of their home fans. One thing is for sure, with the quality that is on show out there, from two of the most attacking teams in Europe we can expect a quality match.

Okay - we have live pictures! Are you ready for a cracking match? Cristiano Ronaldo to weave some magic? Franck Ribery to continue scoring? Ninety minutes awaits...

The last time these two teams met Roy Makaay scored the fastest goal in Champions League history for Bayern Munich - 10.6 seconds.

Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes faces his former club Real Madrid over two legs, knowing that victory will ensure the German side will be the first to contest a Champions League final in its own stadium.

Heynckes led Real to the 1998 trophy and knows the pressure on the Spanish powerhouse to claim a record 10th title is immense.

"The obsession to win this trophy was there from the beginning," the 66-year-old said of his solitary year in charge. Heynckes was sacked for finishing the season in a lowly league position - fourth.

"This team is ambitious, wants to put on a show and plays to win," Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said.

Mourinho denied Bayern in the 2010 Champions League final by winning with Inter Milan at Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium and is seeking to become the first coach to win the competition with three different clubs having first won it with FC Porto.

The Madrid coach broke his media blackout Monday to refer to the deep rivalry that emerged from acrimonious battles between the two heavyweights in the past, listing the former Bayern players and coaches who most got under Madrid's skin.

"(Uli) Hoeness, (Franz) Beckenbauer, (Karl-Heinz) Rummenigge, (Ottmar) Hitzfeld and (Oliver) Kahn all have the same opinion - that Bayern is stronger, they are favorites, that we have a complex about 'The Black Beast,"' Mourinho said.

"We will be the ones to come out of this tie."

Four-time winner Bayern is hoping its strength at home will prove decisive in today’s semifinal first leg.

"Lust, passion, desire for success are decisive," Heynckes said on Monday. "And I feel that in my team. They have this chance perhaps once in their lives."

Bayern has won 13 of its last 14 games in Munich, where Real has never won in nine attempts. The Spaniards have only one win from 22 visits to Germany - a 3-2 victory at Bayer Leverkusen in September 2000.

History also favours the Germans, who have 10 wins from 18 previous clashes between the great rivals - including eight from those nine games in Munich.

Bayern has prevailed in three from four semifinal clashes, going on to win the title when the sides last met at this stage in the competition in 2001.

It was Bayern's last European title, and the Bavarians are keen to make up for disappointing form in the Bundesliga by reaching a ninth final.

Bayern has all but conceded defeat in the league after falling eight points behind defending champion Borussia Dortmund.

"Our focus now is on the Champions League and the German Cup," said sporting director Christian Nerlinger after Saturday's 0-0 draw to Mainz ended Bayern's 11-game winning run at home.

Munich plays Dortmund in the German Cup final on May 12.

Bayern's 1-0 defeat at Dortmund last Wednesday effectively decided the Bundesliga, and Heynckes acknowledged as much by starting regulars Toni Kroos, Franck Ribery, Philipp Lahm, Luiz Gustavo and league topscorer Mario Gomez on the bench against Mainz.

"Rotations were necessary to be fully there," said Heynckes.

Gomez, with 25 Bundesliga goals, will be hoping to add to his Champions League tally of 11.

Bayern winger Arjen Robben, for one, could feel he has a point to prove after scoring 11 goals in 50 league appearances for Madrid before being deemed surplus to requirements in 2009.

"I hope and believe that he will be particularly motivated against his ex-club," Heynckes said Monday. "He's a player that can make the difference."

But Madrid is unbeaten in 20 games in all competitions and has only conceded one goal in five away Champions League games so far.

"Everyone knows what's coming. It's the toughest opponent of the season," said Kroos.

Madrid is four points ahead of three-time defending champion Barcelona in the league, Saturday's 3-1 win at home over Sporting Gijon maintaining the capital side's advantage before Saturday's crucial "clasico" in Barcelona.

Mourinho used Karim Benzema and Angel di Maria as substitutes, while neither Kaka nor Xabi Alonso featured against Sporting, the latter missed out through suspension.

Madrid called up its entire 23 man squad for Munich, plus reserve team goalkeeper Tomas Mejias.

"For those who say Mourinho is a defensive coach, the numbers aren't bad," said assistant coach Aitor Karanka after his side matched the league record 107 goals it scored during the 1989-90 season.

Like Madrid, Bayern has no major injury worries ahead of the tie, though Bastian Schweinsteiger is still not 100 percent after recently returning from a nagging ankle injury.

"It's still difficult for me in terms of stamina," Schweinsteiger said. "It's all or nothing on Tuesday. We have to go to the limits and beyond, but we can do it with our fans behind us."

Mueller, Kroos, David Alaba, Jerome Boateng and Luiz Gustavo are all one booking from suspension, while no Madrid playing is in danger of missing the second leg.

Bayern's defence will need to be at its best to stop Cristiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain and Benzema, who have combined to score 107 goals in all competitions this season.

"Real are pure attack," Heynckes said in a Kicker interview.

Ronaldo scored his 41st against Gijon to become the first Spanish league player to score more than 40 goals in back-to-back seasons.

"We have to take advantage of Cristiano's goals, there are no limits to his abilities," said left back Marcelo.

Madrid hasn't won the title since 2002 and is also spurred by the prospect of a possible final against arch rival Barcelona on May 19.

The defending champion faces Chelsea in the other semifinal tie.

"We're going up against a very tough rival but we know this is the only series standing in the way of the final we want," said Higuain.

Imagine being there at Alliance Stadium to watch both teams live, streaming forward to get a positive result to take into the second leg.